The mayor launched his campaign Thursday from the parking lot at Soucie Salo Safety on Lorne Street — a place that holds importance for his family.

“There’s a lot of history on the Lorne Street corridor. We’re close to the location of the original Sudbury sign,” the incumbent said. “You can see progress and investment in every direction. Look west and see what a billion dollars in investment from Vale looks like. The stack no longer pushes out smoke. Our community is cleaner and the mining world is investing in it.”

Bigger lauded the accomplishments council has achieved over the past four years, including the eradication of the HCI funds, the Maley Drive extension and the store hours bylaw.

“People wanted slush funds gone – they’re gone,” Bigger said. “People wanted store hours deregulated – I made sure that happened right away. If you look around, even down Lorne Street, you will see our road projects are lasting longer and delivered better. In the last term we’ve brought in accountability measures, meaning that contractors and the staff that oversee them need to own and be responsible to quality of work. There’s still a lot of work to do, but our roads are better today than they were four years ago.”

Acknowledging there is still lots of work to be done, Bigger said the city needs to be more business-friendly.

“We need a better relationship with those who invest, build and grow our city,” he said. “We need to make it easier for them to move their business forward with Tom Davies Square.”

Unfortunately, the Ford government has already indicated it plans to halt the four-laning of Highway 69. But Bigger said he has met with officials and he remains optimistic there will be provincial investments into the city.

“What I’ve heard from them is they are looking for ways, and I am looking for ways, for the city of Greater Sudbury to work in collaboration with this new Conservative government,” he said. “I think there are good opportunities for us to work together and I am confident that when they see the opportunities they will invest.”

To date, Bigger has not had explicit discussions with Queen’s Park about Highway 69, but he said “obviously all Sudburians are interested in having that move forward,” so it remains on the table.

Bigger said the revitalization of downtown is well underway with the Junction project, which will include the Art Gallery of Sudbury, the main library branch and a convention centre, as well as Place des Arts and the Elgin Greenway project.

Of course, no election platform would be complete without at least a cursory mention of the city’s roads. And Bigger said he understands the public wants better thoroughfares.

“I know that roads are still your number one issue; people tell me everywhere I go that they still want us to focus on roads,” he said. “However, did you know that only nine cents of every dollar you pay in taxes comes to us? The rest goes to Ottawa and Queen’s Park. I am determined to get a bigger piece of that pie for our municipality.”

He also said that under his leadership, the events centre will happen.

“People told me they wanted an events centre; I reaffirmed my commitment to this project once again on Tuesday evening and I can assure you that under my leadership, we are going to have a new, modern and excellent facility that’s accessible for everybody in Greater Sudbury,” he noted.

While the Kingsway Entertainment District has become a divisive issue in the city, pitting pro-KED versus anti-KED constituents, Bigger said he believes ultimately, the project will unify the city.

“The KED is something that has actually pulled the community together,” he said. “Council is strongly behind that project and this is what we’re hearing from citizens. When I’m out at Valley East Days and in the community, what I’m hearing from citizens is let’s move our city forward.”